Shoe



Feb. 2, 1932. 1 E J R M 13843517 SHOE Filed Nov. 8, 1926 '2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 2, 1932. J RAMSEY 1,843,517

SHOE

FiledNov. 8, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MW/I Patented Feb.- 2, 1932 EDWARD J. RAMSEY,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SEOE

Application m November This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of shoes, and aims to provide a new and improved shoeand method for making the same, wherein certain disadvantages, particularly in a shoe .of the Puritan or English welt type, will be entirely overcome.

As shoes of the type last-mentioned have heretofore been made, the stitching which holds the outsole on the shoe is the only stitching which actually holds the shoe tog'ether. The combined welt and upper is not sewed as such to the insole. In building up the shoe, the insole is simply laid against 1 combined welt and upper, and further stitch ing is not added until the outsole is laid over the insole. Thus the outsole is what holds the shoe together. When this outside is worn and has to be removed, the shoe falls apart and resoling thereof is exceedingly difficult of not impossible.

Another disadvantage of the English welt shoe is that it loses its shape very quickly; due to the spreading pressure of the foot 2 across the ball, which is not sufliciently opposed by the one row of stitching'holding the upper on the outsole.

An object of the invention is to overcome these disadvantages by providing a rearrangement of the usual stitchings, and particularly by the provision of a stitching or stitchings for securing an insole to a part of the. combined upper and welt, additional to the stitching which joins such upper and Welt, before the outsole is applied and stitched in place fully to build up the sole of the shoe.

Another object of the inventionis to employ, as a preferably incorporated feature of the new shoe, a special insole arrangement. that is, one including a plurality of insole members, stitched together, and stitched to the combined upper and welt, in such manner as to insure that removal of the outsole, for any reason,will not cause breakdown of the remaining shoe structure, while also mini mizing or preventing deformation of the upper by spreadin from foot pressure during wear of the s 0e.

The characteristics and advantages of the 8, 1926. Serial No. 146,906.

invention-are further sufiiciently explained in'connection with the following detail description of the. accompanying drawings,-

which show representative embodiments.

After considering these examples, skilled persons will understand that many variations maybe maple without departing from the principles disclosed and .I contemplate the employment of any structures that are properly within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings: v

Fig. 1 shows a form of shoe according to the invention in perspectivewith the heel not yet completed;

Fig. 2 is a similar perspective View of an insole;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken through the shoe as shown in Fig. 1, at say about the midpoint of the wide sole portion; and

Figs. 4. and 5 illustrate modifications.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a modified structure.

Figs. 7 to 17 inclusive are sections of various modifications.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, there 'is indicated at 4 theupper of a shoe having secured thereto a welt 5 by a line of stitching 6, to give the combined upper and welt a characteristic of Puritan or English welts.

The ordinary outsole is indicated at 7.

As one method of attaining the objects of the invention, I provide a midsole, as at 8, between the welt and the outsole. This midsole 8 I shall hereinafter refer to as the midsole. As shown, and as will be seen most clearly from a comparison of Figs. 1 and 2, this midsole 8 is of the same size as the outsole 7.

In building up the shoe, the midsole 8 is laid over the bottom face of the welt, after the combined upper and welt are lasted.

Next, this midsole is secured to the welt by a row or line of stitching 9 going throu h the welt and the midsole. This line of stitc ing 9 is placed as close to the upper as is pos-. sible.

The outsole 7 is then positioned against the midsole 8, attached thereto say by cement or 1 tacks; and then a row or line of stitching 10 is applied, these stitches going through the welt, the midsole and the outsole.

As the invention is thus preferably carried out, it will be noted that the midsole 8 holds the shoe together in an exceedingly efiicient spread-resisting manner; and that, further, when the outsole is completely worn away or otherwise removed, the shoe will not fall apart, as it is held together by the combined action of the midsole 8 and the stitching 9.,

For the same reason, a partially worn outsole may be easily removed and without danger of breaking up the shoe.

Obviously, the invention is capable of many modifications.

Thus, the shoe may be made up so that the row of stitching 9, hereinafter called the first row, oes also through outsole 7 as well as the mldsole 8 and the welt, as does the row of stitching 10 as shown in the drawings. This stitching 10, through whatever elements it goes in carrying out the invention, I shall hereinafter call the second'row of stitching.

According to the modification (A) just described, there appear on the outsole as well as on the welt, two rows of stitching; whereas, according to the illustrated modification only one row of stitching shows on the outsole, with two rows showing on the welt.

A further modification (B) according to the invention would consist in making the midsole 8 of slightly less width than the out sole. In this case, the midsole would be of a width so that its opposite side edges would fall between the stitchings 9 and 10 as shown in Fig. 3, on each side of the shoe. That is, the midsole 8 would be just wide enough to permit the first row of stitching 9 to be applied; which stitching 9 is always preferably applied as close as possible to the upper without actually going through the same. In the case of the modification now being described, the midsole 8 not having its edge extended outwardly as far as the edge of the outsole 7, the second row of stitching 10 would go only through the welt and the outsole, as it would lie beyond the bounds of the midsole 8. Of course, then, this stitching 10 would draw tightly together the outer portions of the welt and the outsole, to provide a nicely finished shoe and one offering good wet-weather protection.

A further modification (0) would consist in having the midsole 8 of less length than the outsole 7. In this case, the midsole need run only from shank to tip. Here the first row of stitching 9 need only run along the outer marginal portion of the midsole 8, that is. from shank to shank. The second row of stitching 10 would preferably, of course, run all around as illustrated. Even though the stitching 9 ,is missing at the heel, the objects of the invention are nevertheless all attained in the modification now being discussed; as

there is no strain at the heel portion, and even if a whole outsole and all heel taps be removed, the midsole forward of the shank, plus the stitching 9 forward of the shank, prevent falling apart of the shoe.

A further modification (D) might be a combination of modifications (B) and (G).

Similarly, a further modification, of (G), which modification let us call modification (E), would be a combination of (A) and (C). In this case, from what has been already explained, the midsole 8 would run back only as far as the shank, while the two rows of stitching 9 and 10 would both go through all of welt, midsole and outsole, forward of the shank, that is, within the limits of the midsole. And here two rows of stitching, stitchings 9 and 10, are shown both on the outsole and on the welt; both on welt and outsole, one row running all around the shoe (if the shoe of the heel-welted type illustrated in Fig. 1), and the other row running around the sole from shank to shank.

Similarly, a further modification, which .modification let us call modification (F),

would be a combination of (E) and (B). Here the exposed stitchings 9 and 10 on outsole and welt would be as described under (E), but the second row of stitching 10 would not go through the shortened and narrowed midsole 8 at all because narrowed as stated and as hereinbefore described.

It will be noted from Fig. 3 that the customary first or inner insole is conventionally indicated at 11; in which case usually a suitable filler 12 is housed as illustrated in the sole structure of the shoe. In this connection,

it is to be noted, in further factative emphasis of the multiple embodiments falling within the invention, that this first insole 11 may be 7.

omitted from the shoe. In making up such a shoe, the upper and the welt would be attached together in the usual way, and lasted over the bare last without any inner insole at all, and then the shoe would be built up from the elements 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, or their equivalents, in any of the ways hereinabove described.

Again, any shoe embodiment of the invention, and any method of shoe manufacture pursuant to the invention, may include the preparation and the incorporation of a special insole arrangement of the kind referred to in the introduction to this specification, that is, a collection of preferably inter-bonded insole members as will now be described.

Such collection will hereinafter be referred to as the combination insole.

This combination insole, in one form thereof, includes three leather or other suitable material sheet members, preferably of such relative over-all dimensions and thicknesses, and so relatively arranged, that, referrring to Fig. 3, this view fully discloses such form; if the midsole 8 be deemed the outermost of such three sheet members, the filler 12 the intermediate one of said members, and the inner or first ihsole 11 the innermost one of said members. As fully illustrated in my said 'copending application, and as transversely shown in Fig. 3 hereof, the inner or first insole element 11 is preferably shorter and narrower than the last, and the filler-or intermediate in sole element 12 is preferably shorter and narrower than the element 11, while the outer or midsole element 8 is preferably much wider and longer than the last, in fact preferably as wide and as long as the outsole 7.

Said combination insole is preferably made up as' a single unit before the upbuilding of the shoe, so far as bringing the combined upper and welt into the structure is concerned; so that the combination insole is first made up by inter-bonding the three sheet members, as by stitching or any other method of securement. Preferably, such inter-bonding would be attained by applying a row or line of stitching all around the combination insole, equi-distance, say 7 from the margin or bounding edge of the intermediate sheet member 12, say as indicated at 15 in Fig. 3.

Also, obviously, the new combination insole could be made up as above described, in preparation for its incorporation in the shoe; but with the sheet member corresponding to the first insole omitted.

There has thus been provided a combina tion insole the marginal portion of which would be thinner all around, than the central portion, which would be much heavier.

To build up a shoe according to the invention, and by the incorporation of a combination insole as described, the recommended procedure is as follows: Arrange the combination insole on the last so that the sheet member 8 is most removed from the upper surface of the last. Next the marginal portions of said sheet member 8, be-

yond the row of stitching 15, are turned up and back sufficiently to permit proper lasting of the combined upper and welt over the last. This lasting is checked to see that the inturned edges of the combined upper and welt are close up against the thicker inter-' mediate sheet member 12. Next said marginal portions of sheet member 8 are laid dovivn again over the combined upper and we t.

And the shoe is finished by other stitchings in any of the ways herein described, or falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In any modification, where stitchings 9 and 10 are employed, they may be reversed in relative adjacency to the outer edge of the we Various other modifications will now be described, as further examples, but not in limitation, of the invention, or as indicating a specific limit upon the number of possible modifications.

As Puritan or English welt shoes have heretofore been made, further, the inner or first insole 11 is loose within the shoe, or becomes loosened from moving with the foot, and can be easily pulled out. One Way of overcoming this trouble according to the present invention I have already explained,

to wit, the use of the row of stitching 15 to inter-bond the sole elements 11, 12 and 8.

The modifications now to be described are directed to the provision, among other things, of, in part, other ways of overcoming the loose-insole trouble, and, in part, means for more securely holding the shoe elements together, for greater strength and water-tightness and for anti-upper-bulge eficiency.

Refer in this connection to Figs. 4: and 5.

In the case of Fig. 4, for instance, the outer marginal portion of the first insole 11 is arranged as shown, that is, as a rand element, between the marginal portion of the midsole 8, and the welt, so that the row of stitching 9 secures not only the combined upper and welt to the first insole but also secures the first and second insoles together.

In the case of Fig. 5, for instance, the marginal portion of the first insole 11 is carried toward the marginal portion of the midsole 8 as above; but here the width of the marginal portion of the first insole 11 is made comparatively small, and a row of stitching. as indicated at 16 is applied to lock the insole 11 to the insole 12, before the stitchings 9 and 10 are applied.

Thus, as already pointed out, these modifications in Figs. 4 and 5, provide, among other things, modes of securing the first insole and midsole together even with the row of stitching 15 omitted.

Still another modification, not only of the shoe of the present invention, but of the combination insole itself, would be to substitute for the midsole 8, in the combination insole as already described, a rand (not shown), which, although of course strip-like and thus similar to an ordinary welt in shape, would be of such width that the inner edge of this rand could be disposed at short distance toward the center of the sole beyond the line of stitching 15, While the outer edge of the rand corresponds in location to the bounding edge of the midsole 8 if present, that is, with the bounding edge of the outsole 7 when finally applied. In building up a shoe with a combination insole as just described, any of the various alternatives sets of stitching operations hereinabove described could be performed to complete the shoe after lasting the combination insole and the combined upper and welt, and after superposing the outsole 7 on the parts thus lasted.

It is not desirable to have the stitching 15 expo'sed on the inside of the shoe, in those cases where, pursuant to the invention, such a stitching is employed. And in this connection, another feature of the invention is the incorporation of an auxiliary sheet element, and its incorporation in a way to prevent slipping of the same in a manner analogous to the undesirable slipping of the ordinary inner insole, the overcoming of which latter slipping is one of the reasons for recommending the stitching 15. Said feature involves the provision of a liner (not shown), of leather, preferably very thin, of leatherette or of textile fabric or other material of comparatively inconsiderable cost as compared with the cost of the other sheet members in the shoe; and the locking in place of this liner by the following steps. First, the liner is provided of slightly greater width than the width of the first insole 11. Next, after the elements 11 and 12 and the midsole 8, or the elements 11 and 12 and the rand last above described, are inter-bonded to make the combination insole, the liner is laid over the under surface of the first insole 11 as the parts are shown in Fig. 3, so that marginal portions of the liner are protruded at opposite sides of said first insole; the liner, if desired, being pasted or cemented to the first insole. Next, the protruding marginal portions of the liner are folded up and over the side edges of the first insole, and then down and fiat against the upper surface of the exposed marginal portions of said first insole which protrude beyond the side edges of the member 12.

While I have illustrated a particular'type of shoe as incorporating the present invention, it is to be understood that various other types of shoes may be constructed according to the invention Without departing from the scope thereof. It is also to be understood that while I have mentioned certain materials, and have shown and described various dimensions and shapes for different elements, and various combinations of such elements, and various pluralities and relations of rows of stitchings, and various sequences for applying pluralities of stitchings, and have otherwise been most careful to describe exactly and precisely a large number of different modifications, and a number of such modifications representing all the different embodiments of the invention which so far have been devised by me pursuant to the invention and at the same time as practical in the art of shoe manufacture, it is to be emphasized that the invention is not to be limited to shoes or even shoes and boots, but instead to any and all forms of footwear, and that all the details just referred to are to be taken as merely. illustrative and not at all in a limiting sense, except as they are incorporated in the appended claims; which claims, further, are to be given the widest possible Fig. 9 is the same as Fig. 7 with the addition that the midsole and insole are connected together by stitching 20.

Fig. 10 represents practically a combination of Figs. 8 and 9 as will be evident by comparing those figures.

Fig. 11 shows a simple form in which any first insole and filler are dispensed with, and otherwise the same as Fig. 3.

Fig. 12 represents practically Fig. 11 modified in accordance with Fig. 8.

Fig. 13 shows a modification of Fig. 11 practically in accordance with Fig. 7 or 9, that is, with the stitching 9a extending through the Welt, midsole and outsole.

Fig. 14 represents Fig. 11 modified substantially in accordance with Fig. 8.

Figs. 15, 16 and 17 show characteristic features of the other forms, as will be easily understood by reference to the preceding figures, but all modified to show a rand 8a instead of the midsole. It will be evident that the rand as here employed is really an equivalent to the midsole; that is, it is located and secured in the same manner as the midsole; and in the claims, for want of a common term in the art for the rand and midsole, it should be understood that broadly the term midsole includes a rand.

I claim:

1. A shoe comprising an upper, a welt, an insole, a midsole, an outsole, a row of stitching holding the midsole to the insole, another row of stitching holding the welt to the upper, another row of stitching attaching the welt to the midsole, another row of stitching attaching together the ,welt, the midsole and the outsole, and a padding between the insole and the midsole.

2. A shoe comprising an upper, a welt, an insole, a midsole, an outsole, a row of stitch ing holding the midsole to the insole, another row of stitching holding the welt to the upper, another row of stitching holding the welt and the midsole together, another row of stitching holding the welt and the outsole together, and a padding between the insole and the midsole.

3. A shoe comprising an upper, awelt, an outsole, a midsole lying against the inner face of the outsole and between the outsole and the welt, stitching securing the upper to the welt,

stitching outside the upper and securing the Welt to the midsole, an outer row of stitching securing the outsole to the welt, an insole located interiorly of the midsole and having a portion located between the welt and the midsole, and a padding between the insole and the midsole. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EDWARD J. RAMSEY. Y 

